Following the judgments in recent years on attribution to a company of its directors' knowledge in Bilta (UK) Ltd (In Liquidation) v Nazir [2015] UKSC 23 and UBS AG (London Branch) and another v Kommunale Wasserwerke Leipzig [2017] EWCA Civ 1567, the UK Supreme Court has once more returned to this issue in Singularis Holdings Ltd (in Official Liquidation) (a Company Incorporated in The Cayman Islands) v Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd [2019] UKSC 50, in a case where a bank (Daiwa) was held liable for breaching its Quincecare duty of care to its customer,
On August 11, 2014, a consultation paper regarding the transposition of the Solvency II Directive into the Prudential Regulation Authority PRA (“PRA”) rules was published. The paper sets out changes to the PRA’s rules required to implement the Directive as amended by Omnibus Directive II.
Introduction
Hildyard J’s recent sanctioning of the scheme of arrangement proposed by PrimaCom Holding GmbH (‘’PrimaCom’’), a German incorporated company whose creditors were domiciled outside of the UK, has reaffirmed the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the English courts in respect of schemes of arrangement and confirmed their status as a useful instrument for foreign companies looking to restructure1.
The process
Following consultation last autumn, the Government is once again changing the Regulations under s75 Pensions Act 1995.
The changes1 take effect on 6 April 2010. They are intended to facilitate corporate restructurings. They also address some minor technical issues. The Government has postponed any more fundamental rewriting of the Regulations, saying that “this is a complex area that deserves closer consideration”.
Restructurings
High Court sanctions scheme of arrangement proposed by the Provident Finance group
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“CIGA“) ushered in a flexible restructuring compromise or arrangement for companies in financial difficulty (the “Restructuring Plan“). The legislation governing the Restructuring Plan sits alongside that for schemes of arrangement and is included in a new Part 26A to the Companies Act 2006.
The Restructuring Plan does not apply to companies that are solvent with no risk of insolvency; rather it only applies to companies where two conditions have been satisfied:
The first half of 2019 continues a long growth rally for the fund finance market, with fund finance deal volume at Mayer Brown significantly up from last year. This growth occurred despite a three-year decline in the number of final fund closings.1 This apparent contradiction can be explained both by the penetration of traditional subscription credit facilities into a broader range of fund types and the diversification of fund finance product offerings in the market (including a notable uptick in the number of hybrid facility and net asset value credit facility closings).
The High Court has rejected the argument that amounts owing to British Gas Trading Ltd (BGT) under post-administration, deemed contracts for the provision of gas and electricity are automatically classed as expenses of the administration. The court has reserved for consideration, however, whether and if so how an administrator’s conduct may give the liability super priority or bring the salvage principle into play.
Background and preliminary issue
In the much anticipated decision of Belmont Park Investments PTY Limited v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited and Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc [2011] UKSC 38 the Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal of Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc (“LBSF”) and in so doing provided clarification as to the scope and application of the anti-deprivation rule (the “Rule”).
Following an informal consultation in late 2008, the DWP is now consulting formally about changes to the Employer Debt Regulations made under s75 Pensions Act 1995. The consultation document can be found at www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2009.
The main proposed changes are intended to facilitate corporate restructurings, but other changes are designed to address some technical problems with the Regulations.
Corporate restructurings